Liberalism is egalitarian in principle, but why doesn't it do more
to promote equality in practice? In this book, the distinguished
political philosopher Michael Walzer offers a critique of liberal
theory and demonstrates that crucial realities have been submerged
in the evolution of contemporary liberal thought. In the standard
versions of liberal theory, autonomous individuals deliberate about
what ought to be done, but in the real world, citizens also
organize, mobilize, bargain, and lobby. The real world is more
contentious than deliberative. Ranging over hotly contested issues
including multiculturalism, pluralism, difference, civil society,
and racial and gender justice, Walzer suggests ways in which
liberal theory might be revised to make it more hospitable to the
claims of equality. Combining profound learning with practical
wisdom, Michael Walzer offers a provocative reappraisal of the core
tenets of liberal thought. Politics and Passion will be required
reading for anyone interested in social justice, and the means by
which we seek to achieve it.